by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
There are more houses of worship per square mile Downtown than in any other area of Duval County. Many of the buildings have quite a history and most were constructed shortly after the Great Fire of 1901 virtually destroyed Jacksonville.
The Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1870 at a building at the corner of Laura and Monroe streets. After the fire destroyed the building the congregation immediately began planning for a replacement. Work began on the site in 1902 and the first services in the new church, constructed of granite rubble and limestone at a cost of $31,000, were conducted a year later. The structure’s most distinctive features are its bell tower and the intricate rose window above the front facade.
The church was renamed Snyder Memorial in honor of E.B. Snyder, the former pastor whose children generously donated to the rebuilding effort.
Years later the congregation disbanded, the building was deconsecrated and the deed was taken over first by the St. Johns River City band and later by the City of Jacksonville, its current owner. After the SJRCB vacated the building it laid fallow until this year when the City removed the pews for restoration and used it as an intimate club-like setting for several Jacksonville Jazz Festival performers.
While Snyder Memorial has gone through a profound transformation, another historic church a few blocks away never will.
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church at 121 E. Duval St. is the foundation of a major chapter in the history of Catholicism in Jacksonville.
Between 1829 and 1854 Catholic families gathered in their homes to celebrate Mass with priests who arrived here from Georgia on horseback. By 1854, the regional congregation had moved services into a small wooden building at the corner of Ocean and Adams streets.
In 1864 Jacksonville was occupied by Union soldiers who were fighting in the Civil War. Some of the troops vandalized the building and marched through the streets wearing sacred vestments and blowing notes through pipes pulled from the church’s organ. After the war ended, church officials sought reimbursement from the U.S. government for the damage but their request was denied.
The Catholic community persevered however, and a new brick church was built.
On May 3, 1901 that structure suffered the same fate as the other buildings Downtown and was virtually razed by the conflagration. Very little of the building was spared, according to Jacksonville Historical Society Executive Director Emily Lisska.
“Immaculate Conception got quite a bit of attention in the newspapers after the fire,” she said. “It burned with such fury that one side and the front facade remained. But the statue of the Virgin Mary was still standing and appeared to be looking over the destroyed city.” The statue is now in the church’s courtyard.
In 1910 the new church, built of Kentucky limestone, was dedicated at the site by Bishop John Kenny, one of Immaculate Conception’s former pastors. Its windows were created by the Mayer Stained Glass Company in Munich, Germany. The day the first Mass was celebrated there it was the tallest building in the city.
The church was “solemnly dedicated,” meaning it will forever be a place where Catholics will celebrate their religion.
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church was “solemnly dedicated” in 1910.
The first Methodist Church services were held in Snyder Memorial in 1903.
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